The Tao Te Ching (or the Dao De Jing in Pinyin) was supposedly written by Lao Tzu (Laozi) around the 6th Century B.C. It’s the fundamental work for Taoism (Daoism). It’s a collection of short passages that describe “The Path” for wisdom. It’s mysterious. It’s Eastern. And it’s easy to read. Thus it’s ripe for all us Western folk to find profound meaning in and maybe inspire us to get a Chinese character tattoo.

Without any real background in Daoism, I have to take most of it face value. Which is possibly all you are supposed to. As the Daodejing ends:

Sincere words are not fine;fine words are not sincere.Thosewho are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it);The disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are notextensively learned;the extensively learned do not know it. Section 81